It's Just Not Natural
by EbonyEye
Yay, Chapter 2! Hope you want to keep reading! R&R!
ENJOY!
Chapter 2
Strangers
Location: Near Sunagakure
"Kaka-sensei, how much farther?" Naruto asked impatiently. Man, he really didn't know what patience meant.
"I told you a minute ago, Naruto, we're almost there." The copy nin answered tiredly.
Sakura chewed on her lower lip as they sped through the trees. She couldn't stop worrying about Nozomi. After all, the pinkette only had her little sister left; her parents were dead along with some uncles and aunts.
Maybe I'm being stupidly sentimental, but I want my family back. She thought.
I have a solution: Sex.
And who would be the father? Sakura challenged her inner.
Pfft. Anybody. Obviously.
Ew, no. I'm not gonna just bed somebody as long as their male.
Well, then quit complaining that you have no family.
Sakura ignored her inner, but it still stung. It was true, she was reaching a mature age, and she was single. Hell, she'd been single all her life, even when Sasu - *wince*. Sakura didn't let herself think of the name.
But nevertheless, unbidden memories flooded into her mind. Black eyes, black hair… black heart. He had no heart, actually. He had had a hard childhood, okay, granted, but to push everything else away except his crappy revenge was wrong too.
Sasu… - Naruto and the Uchiha had had almost the same situation. But they had chosen different paths. In her opinion, the Kyuubi container had made the right one. And the idiot of an Uchiha had only left broken hearts and sadness behind.
Well, he was and Uchiha. Aren't all Uchihas just idiots?
Not to mention hot. Inner Sakura chimed in.
Sakura's irritation boiled over at the little, stupid, utterly moronic comment.
"SHUT UP!"
Sakura covered her mouth as soon as she realized that she'd yelled the words out loud.
Naruto, his mouth open from an incomplete sentence, stared at her incredulously, along with the rest of Team 7.
"Huh?" The blonde ninja questioned, still leaping through the trees. "What's wrong with asking if Sunagakure has ramen?"
"Oh, hehe, nothing!" Sakura rushed to explain herself, giving a fake smile.
Sai and Naruto turned away, but Kakashi watched his only female student's eyes darken as she thought of things unknown to him.
Although Kakashi didn't say it, he somehow knew that Sakura was thinking about a certain sharingan wielder. It had become an assumption that proved correct most of the times. Well, maybe she was thinking of a little rose-haired six-year-old… or maybe both.
Kakashi pondered Sakura's love history.
As far as he knew, she had only truly loved Sasuke Uchiha. She had been on a couple of dates with the local guys, but she never seemed happy with any of them.
But ever since Nozomi had entered her life, she had recovered somewhat from Sasuke's betrayal. The young Haruno had distracted her from her mourning, and given a new purpose to Sakura's life.
Kakashi stared ahead looking into the dark forest.
He did wonder about one thing, though.
What has become of Sasuke?
Location: Somewhere near Kumo, in Lightning Country
"You slut! GIVE ME MY WATER BOTTLE BACK!" Suigetsu roared, swinging his humongous blade at his redheaded teammate.
She ducked the first blow, then leaped over the second, clutching a bottle tightly in one hand.
"Come and get it, you moron!" She sniped, dodging another of his swings.
Suigetsu's face contorted somewhere between anger and disbelief. He prepared to deliver another lounge, but was stopped by a pair of swirling red eyes.
Karin likewise stopped short and whined:
"Sasuke-kun! We're just – "
"…"
"Okay, Sasuke-kun." She said meekly, seeking to hide from Sasuke's killing stare.
Suigetsu hastily slung his sword on its strap behind his back and backed a little bit away.
Team Hebi had just lost track of Itachi, which had the Uchiha in a particularly foul mood. How could it be that his bastard of an aniki always managed to slip away when they thought they had him for good?
Sasuke was perched on a wide tree branch, with one hand slung easily on a bent knee. His sharingan didn't seem to want to turn off as his irritation at the whole world pounded through his brain.
Pity anything… or anybody… that got on his nerves now.
Making sure not to make any noise, Suigetsu sidled up to Karin and pointed at the water bottle. She glared at him, tucking it further away into her pocket. His expression grew irritated and he pointed again, imperiously, and with a clearly firm gesture.
She smirked and shook her head.
The water nin bared his teeth angrily and gave her a threatening look.
Karin could barely contain her sadistic giggle as she slowly backed a couple of steps back.
The whole time, they didn't utter a peep. If somebody had been listening, this is what they would have heard:
*point*
"…"
*point!*
"…"
"…!"
"…^^…"
"GIVE IT BACK YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Suigetsu's sudden roar echoed in the dark woods as he charged the chakra-specialist.
His move surprised her and she quickly ducked to avoid him. However, she wasn't fast enough to completely evade his stab, and the bottle flew out of her pocket.
Scrambling on fours, she reached towards it, only to hear a kunai whizzing towards her. Jerking back, she didn't manage to pull her hand away in time before it bored through it, pinning it to the ground below.
Karin screamed as hot blood streamed from her injured limb.
Suigetsu took his chance to take another swing at her, but another dagger sliced a neat groove on his cheek.
Both nuke-nins froze, realizing that they had just committed suicide.
"Karin. Suigetsu. What did I say?"
Karin glared at the Uchiha, irritation making her reckless.
"Well, Sasuke-sama, you didn't actually say anything. You just stared at us."
"…"
His katana flashed through the air towards he throat, and she could pull back just in time. Not able to dodge it, though, it sliced cleanly through her glasses' bridge, severing it into two pieces.
"My patience isn't eternal. I will formulate my order clearly this time: Return Suigetsu's bottle and you two leave off from one another. Am I clear?"
The two Hebi members looked at each other nervously. Sasuke only spoke a lot when he was furious.
Like, really furious.
They nodded in sync, bobbing their heads up and down so fast they looked like storks performing a mating dance.
Sasuke calmly turned away and disappeared up his tree again.
He knew that they'd stop their petty little quarrel. Because no one is ever…
…ever…
…stupid enough to mess with an Uchiha.
Location: Konoha
Nozomi woke to see the bed across the room empty. For a moment, she panicked, then remembered that her sister was going to be gone for 14 days.
14 days.
Her six-year-old mind saddened considerably as she slipped out of bed.
Toddling sleepily towards her drawing room, she checked again if she had done what she had meant to do.
Yes, the finished drawing of her and Sakura was not there.
The younger Haruno smiled as she remembered secretly tucking the picture into Sakura's pack when she hadn't been looking.
A soft knock on the apartment's door made her jump at least a foot into the air.
"Nozomi-chan? May I come in?" Hinata's voice came gently through the door.
"Coming!"
Hurriedly, Nozomi yanked open the door and beamed at the Hyuuga.
Hinata had two grocery bags with her and smiled at her friend's little sister.
"I thought that I'd cook here, than we can head over to my compound." She explained in her quiet manner, making her way towards the kitchen.
"Really? Great! I've never been to your house!" Nozomi raced at the Hyuuga heiress. She felt her dark, morbid thoughts dissolve slightly as she mapped out the rest of her day.
Hinata was busy measuring ingredients and starting up the stove while Nozomi bounced around happily, watching the recipe.
"What's that?" She asked enthusiastically, pointing.
Hinata giggled softly and answered:
"That, Nozomi, is flour."
"Flower? Are there any bees in it?"
"No, not flower; flour. And I certainly hope that there aren't any bees in here!"
"So what does flour do?"
An hour later, Hinata arrived back at her compound with Nozomi in tow. The rosette fell silent as she beheld the magnificent clusters of houses and the breath-taking gardens.
"Kami, Hinata-chan, you must be rich!" Nozomi gasped in awe.
Hinata giggled and said:
"Well, the Hyuugas are an old and powerful family…"
"Powerful?"
"Yes, we have the Byakugan."
"AWESOME!… What's a Byakugan?"
"…"
Hiashi was a little surprised when he saw his eldest daughter come in with a young stranger. I say a little surprised, because Hiashi could mask emotions worthy of an Uchiha.
When Nozomi caught sight of the Hyuuga master, her large green eyes widened and she bowed so low that her short cute hair almost touched the ground.
"Are you Hyuuga-sama?" She asked, her voice trembling slightly.
After Hiashi's curt nod, she said: "Please to meet you, Hyuuga-sama. My name is Haruno Nozomi. My sister is on a mission and Hinata is spending time with me."
The stern Hyuuga bit back a smile.
"I see that Sakura-san has taught you good manners." He commented, the hard lines on his face softening a bit.
Nozomi tilted her head, looking cuter than an innocent angel.
"All right, off you go." His voice was gruff as he repressed any emotions.
His daughter beamed at him and said cheerfully:
"Thank you, father! Come, Nozomi, let's go to my quarters."
Hiashi watched the heiress to his family hurry away with a rosette bouncing happily after her. When they were out of sight, a miniscule smile lifted the corner of his lips.
"Ne, Hinata-chan, who's that?" Nozomi asked curiously, while Hinata was digging through a stack of her books, looking for something appropriate for the little Haruno to read.
"Who?"
Turning around, Hinata saw her cousin standing in the doorframe, regarding Nozomi with a slightly curious look.
"Oh, Nozomi, this is my cousin, Neji."
"Pleased to meet you, Hyuuga-san." Nozomi chirped, bowing.
Neji hid a smirk and he said:
"Nozomi-chan. Pardon me if I ask, but are you related to Sakura-san?"
Hinata tilted her head and asked:
"Don't you know?"
As her cousin shook her head, she realized:
"Oh, that's right, Sakura-chan never really showed her sister to anybody."
"Her… sister?"
Nozomi piped up:
"Sure! I'm Sakura's younger sister."
Neji looked at her cute child's face and grunted, turning to leave.
"Wait, Neji-sama!" The Hyuuga turned to see the little girl tugging on his shirt.
"Can you stay and play with us?" Nozomi pleaded, emerald eyes widening until it resembled a puppy look.
Hinata backed up Nozomi's begging, and Neji finally stayed. He couldn't feel annoyed, somehow, and he had to admit it was cute watching the little rosette play with his cousin.
At first he didn't want to participate in the ridiculous games, but then the two females convinced him into playing a board game.
And Neji had the luck to land on the field with:
Give the player to your left a piggy back ride around the entire house.
Looking towards his left, he met a pair of innocent moss green eyes.
"All right." He sighed, then smirked.
Lifting the feather light Haruno onto his back, he used chakra to speed things up.
Nozomi screamed with enthusiastic fear as he suddenly accelerated, racing through the house barely visible.
Hiashi, who was just crossing the hallway to his study, paused and watched his nephew zoom around the corner, the six year old hanging on his back giggling/screaming, with his daughter racing after them, laughing.
Now that was something you didn't see everyday at the Hyuuga compound.
Location: The new village Izogakure
Izo was a snowy village, no one could dispute that. Not with one and a half foot deep snow all around and flakes falling gently from the sky.
The village was covered in a blanket of snow, with a high wall around it. Two sentries were keeping a watch on the gate.
"Man, I hate sentry duty." One of them groaned. It was a tall, slender girl with spiked white hair. The strands reflected the light, rebounding in thousands of shimmering facets. Her hair was longer in the back, and a single strand of hair cut into her right eye. Eye colour: dark lime.
"Come on, you know our village is still scrambling to organize itself." Her duty partner muttered. He had the exact same kind of hair, except that it was only shoulder length in the back. His eyes were light lime.
"Then it should scramble faster and be done with it." She turned away, scanning the empty landscape yet again.
These two nins were twins, Mirai and Huyu Miyuki. They were both just turning 25.
Huyu shifted to see behind a couple of trees, brushing a strand of hair away that cut into his left eye.
"I wonder who leader-sama expects, considering that she's driving us so hard." Mirai sighed.
Her twin glanced up just in time to see two figures suddenly appear on the horizon.
"I think there's our answer." He said, pointing.
Mirai followed his finger, and wasted no time. Raising her arms, she uttered a piercing whistle.
Four snowy owls alighted, two gripping onto each arm, and in this fashion, flew the girl down.
The two strangers looked… peculiar. One, a woman, had dark purple hair, black eyelids and a paper rose fastened in her hair. The man had spiked orange hair, multiple piercings, and hypnotic red rings that spread out from his pupils. Both wore long black robes with red clouds patterned on them.
"Konichiwa." Mirai said as she gracefully landed. She made no attempt to shoo away the birds on her shoulders, and they just perched, watching.
"What brings you to Izogakure?" She asked nonchalantly. From the corner of her eye, she watched her twin jump down from the top of the wall, landing with a soft thump in the deep snow.
The woman said:
"We are here to visit the Sokage."
Mirai narrowed her eyes and she asked lowly:
"If this is about joining Izogakure back to Mizu no Kuni? If so, turn back and never try again."
"This is not about joining the two villages back together." The man spoke now. His face and voice were so devoid of any emotion, the hairs on the back of her neck raised in fear.
"We need to speak to Seiki-sama. Your leader." He continued.
Mirai stood frozen to a block of ice, and Huyu flashed next to her. He had to ignore the urge not to step in front of his sister to protect her from the orange-haired man cold stare.
His twin flashed him a dark look, as if she'd read his thoughts, and said in an annoyed voice:
"I'm not a baby anymore, Huyu."
Turning back to the strangers, she said reluctantly:
"All right. Come." Under her breath, she muttered:
"Although it's your fault if she kills you both."
Konan watched the twins turn and start to trek towards the village. Casting a glance at her leader, the paper nin asked quietly:
"Is she really worth it?"
"Yes. That and more." Pain said in a flat voice.
No more words were exchanged, but Konan caught a flash in her leader's eyes that told her that the Sokage was something important.
Very important.
"Sokage-sama?"
A lean figure sat behind a large table. The study was dark, and all you could see was the silhouette of Izo's kage. But you could tell from the shape and built that it was a woman.
"Yes, Mirai?" Her voice was flat and almost matched that of the orange-haired stranger.
"Me and Huyu have a pair of visitors. They wanted to talk with you urgently."
"Let them in."
Mirai nodded and bounded back outside, beckoning to the strangers. Behind her, she heard the kage say in a slightly amused voice:
"And please don't drop any more feathers."
The girl glanced behind her in surprise, which quickly changed into sheepishness. The four owls were still hanging onto her shoulders, and they had left a few white feathers in the Sokage's study.
Pain glanced at Konan, and they both stepped into the room.
The doors clanged shut behind them with an ominous boom.
Staring at the Sokage, Pain felt a brief flicker of unease when a pair of feral dark amethyst eyes bored into his.
"Master Kira Seiki. I hope the position of Sokage has you satisfied?" He asked in a slightly mocking voice. "I never knew that you could get this far. Kidnapping almost half of an entire village…!"
The kage narrowed her eyes into burning purple slits.
"Why, aren't you proud of me?" She retorted in a purring, honey-sweet and completely deadly tone.
"I thought you liked your students, Pain-sensei!"
A/N
So, whad'ya think? I'm DYING to know! And please note that if I'm dead, you will never…
…EVER…
…know what happens! MUAHAHAHAHA!
Review, please? *puppy eyes*
EbonyEye
PREVIEW CHAPTER 3:
- "Hey… is it just me, or is the entire island covered in snow?"
"Right, Ugly. You don't have enough imagination to come up with snow."
"SAI!"
"Okay, okay – yes, it's snowed in."
- "They're not weapons, silly!" Sakura called back, scooping up another handful. "They're snowballs!"
- That orange book… she'd seen it before…
- "Ah, I see. Would you like to borrow it?"
"YES!"
Hope you're eager to keep reading!